


Keith/Reader Oneshots

by MyDearestReaderFanfics



Series: Voltron/Reader Oneshots [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2020-07-10 17:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19909138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyDearestReaderFanfics/pseuds/MyDearestReaderFanfics
Summary: A series of Keith/Reader oneshots off of my tumblr. Each chapter will have the trope in the chapter summary.





	1. Til Death Do Us Part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hell on Earth is the worst place for a romance. [This video heavily inspired the fic.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6e8DLPOmyw) Ya’ll I’m so sorry ;; ANGST

The world ended on a Thursday. Not a Monday like some thought, and certainly not a Friday like others speculated. The day didn’t really matter, you guess. It had been exactly 54 days and 16 hours since the first alarms went off, 47 days and 22 hours since the city had been quarantined, and 1 day and 2 hours since you found out the rest of the world had given up on you. The disease was contained so why bother, right? You categorized the information with the rest, trying to keep any shred of sanity in the world that had been turned upside down. Your boyfriend Keith and you were both still alive so you should be thankful. Your party of six was all still alive and safe-ish. Lance, the sharpshooter, Pidge, your techie, Hunk, defense and cook, Shiro, team leader, Keith, fighter, and you, the closest thing to a medic you had. Somehow your rag-tag group had survived and found refuge in the top layer of an old hotel. It was dusty and worn but it was safe. If your timing was right, and it always was, then Shiro, Keith, and Lance would be getting back anytime with whatever medicine and food they could scavenge. You should meet them at the front just in case anyone needed medical attention.

Thankfully they were all okay if not a little scratched up. They’d managed to find some unexpired over the counter ibuprofen and cold medicine. It wasn’t much, but in the resource-barren world you now lived in, it was basically the equivalent of gold. They'd also managed to find some beat up potatoes and mildly moldy bread. Better than nothing, you guess. You’d have to go on a search mission again soon and farther away. All the closeby stores were all used up. You gave it 1 week and 6 hours. 

1 week and 7 hours actually. Oh well, off by one hour isn’t so bad. “Hunk, (Y/N), and I will go out.” “Shiro, no. You’re still recovering from your fever. I’ll go again.” Shiro had gotten sick recently, thankfully it wasn’t anything serious, but Keith was right, him going out right now was a terrible idea. “You went last time, Keith-” “So did you. I can handle it.” Shiro sighed. “Alright, you know the plan as well as I do. Just be careful.” Keith nodded, swinging his backpack over his shoulder. Your hand found his before you left the safety of the 25th floor. “That was really nice of you. Let’s go out and get this over with.” He smiled for your sake, pressing a kiss to your cheek. Little did he know it’d be the last kiss he’d be able to give you. 

Down Main Street. Up the Alley behind the diner. Through the vacant Kmart. No hoards encountered so far. You’d passed a few stragglers, but they were easy to take care of. It wasn’t until you got to the entrance of the Balmera Grocery & Supplies store that you encountered trouble. There were too many of them. They were coming at you from all sides. “Over here!” Hunk was waving you over to a path he had created using a firecracker. It would burn at your legs but it was better than getting bitten. Keith grabbed your arm, pulling you along with him as he slashed at oncoming zombies. You stumbled along behind him, fending off the zombies with the bat you had. If you could just keep them away long enough to get away from the hoard then you'd be golden. Something tugged you back away from Keith, your hand slipping from his. “KEITH!” “(Y/N)! Hold on.” You saw him slice through several of the zombies trying to get to you. You were scrambling away from the zombies that seemed to have realized you were vulnerable. It was too late, one of the zombies had managed to yank your hair making your head slam into the concrete. The world above you spun, the only thing you could make out was the lessening of light on your face. Then there was a pain in your leg, then your arm, your side. You tried to jerk away only to feel more pain. You distantly heard a loud crash and then there was Keith, your beloved Keith, in front of you. “(Y/N), no, please. (Y/N), no no no no no. Please, please don’t leave me. You can’t leave me!” Somehow you managed to cradle his face. “Lo-ve you…” You could feel blood dribble out of your mouth. Everything hurt so much. “(Y/N), please. You can’t leave, not like this. I love you. Please, please, please.” 1 minute and 32 seconds. That's how long it took for the world to fade to black. You woke up and the world felt foggy, you couldn’t remember much and you couldn’t really feel any of your body. Except him, his face. It was all that made sense still in this world of grey. Deep violet eyes that seemed to pierce your non-existent soul. You had to find him. If you could just find him it would all be okay. 

It had taken days to find him. He was as beautiful as you imagined him, even if you weren’t sure who he was. You wanted to eat-no just look. Something whistled past your head. “Lance, stand down!” “Keith, buddy, you can’t be serious.” “I said stand down!” The beautiful man got closer and you staggered toward him. “I think- I think they recognize me.” “Keith, that’s not possible. You need to get away from them, the (Y/N) you knew is long gone.” What were they saying? The sounds coming from their mouths didn’t make sense at all. You staggered closer again. The beautiful man got yanked back by one of his friends. “Let go of me! I have to know! What if they’re still in there? I can’t just give up on them!” His friends kept a tight grip on him and the second you made a move to get closer again another bullet flew at you. It embedded itself in your shoulder and you stumbled back from the impact. “NO! Stop shooting at them! Run away, (Y/N)!” He looked distressed, you didn’t like seeing him like that. They left, pulling Keith along with them. Now you’d have to find him all over again.

The next time you found him was at the hotel. You’d somehow managed to get into the upper floors near the secure area. You were mulling around like the others when you saw him. Keith was fixing a camera that had been pushed over on the defense premise. He kept his body out of the way of the zombies, setting up the camera so it was less likely to be bumped again. You limped over to him. The skin on your body was more decomposed than it had been before, but you were still recognizable to an extent. “Uuuungh.” He turned, aiming his knife at your throat. Once he realized it was you he pulled back. “(Y-Y/N)?” “Aarrghh.” He moved his hand to cup your cheek, stopping and pulling back before he actually got too close to you. “You shouldn’t be here. If the others saw you…” He looked around before pulling a space big enough for you to walk through in the barricade. “Come on.” He grabbed your hand pulling you into the secure area, reclosing the barrier. “I knew you were still in there. How else would you find your way here?” He was so beautiful. You wanted a closer look. You stumbled closer, bumping your face against his. He gulped nervously and closed his eyes. “It’s okay. You’re still the (Y/N) I love.” He opened his eyes again, and he could swear he saw a flash of your old smile. You tilted your head, you still weren’t close enough to him. “Hey, Keith, did you finish with the camera yet? Pidge needs it up and running, stat.” “Uh, yeah. It’s good to go.” He pulled away from you. “We need to get you into a room where they won’t find you.” He dragged you along into an area of the hotel that didn’t have Pidge’s security cameras. 

“You should be safe here.” “Keith, the camera wasn’t- oh my god.” Lance froze upon seeing you. “Is that-” “They’re not dangerous!” “You need to get away from them, you’ll get infected!” Keith stepped in front of you protectively. You wanted closer to him you decided. You stumbled forward until you were flush against his back. “See? They aren’t trying to bite me!” Shiro came running when he heard the yelling. “What’s going on- Keith get over here, right now!” “No, just look!” Keith turned to you. “They aren’t biting me, if they wanted to kill me they would’ve tried by now.” “Keith, I know you’re still mourning them, but that isn't (Y/N) anymore.” That’s it! That’s how you can get closer to him. You bumped your face clumsily against his, pressing your mouth against his. He kissed you back, holding you close, hoping to prove his point to the others. You distantly heard shouts for him to move, but you couldn’t find it in you to care. Your heart felt complete. You felt pleasantly warm and when you pulled back he was smiling at you with that beautiful smile. So beautiful that you didn't hear the gunshots.

“Oh my god, Shiro what have I done?” Lance was heaving with dry sobs. His shaking hands had dropped the gun and instead moved to cover his mouth. Shiro wasn’t much better for wear. “What you had to. They’re in a better place now.” On the floor in front of them lay you and Keith, both with a bullet through the head and blood on your mouths. 2 minutes and 45 seconds: the amount of time it took for your kiss to turn lethal. 


	2. Revenant and Romance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum offers many experiences to, say, a medium or a ghost hunter. Maybe it also offers something for those who may not have been looking for love, but are bound to find it anyway. Fluff

Keith Kogane, also known as Ghosts and Dog, was an overnight YouTube sensation. His videos almost always seemed to have some kind of encounter, although none of them were deemed proof enough for the skeptics. He was also respected by the online community for never staging the sightings, only capturing the proof that actually showed up. His voice was pleasant and he always did his research, retelling the history behind each place while he filmed. He also always had his dog Kosmo with him which was a major bonus. You’d been a fan for as long as you can remember, even before he became a trending channel. He had inspired you to try and contact ghosts too, just in a different way. You'd always felt the presence of ghosts, only now you'd managed to successfully communicate with them, aiding them in finding their way to the other side. You'd even become confident enough in your abilities to start your own channel.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was his next destination. He’d visited Mothman’s hometown because cryptids, obviously, so while he was still in West Virginia he figured he might as well stop by one of America’s most haunted locations. His next video was due any day now too. “Come on, Kosmo, we gotta hit the road.” “Awroo?” “I know you wanted to find Mothman, I did too, but we have to upload something eventually.” The blue-tinted wolfdog bumped against Keith, whining. “I’ll get you some treats for the road.” This bribery seemed like enough for the oversized dog as he made a beeline for their truck.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was going to be your magnum opus. If you could help even so much as one of the tortured souls in the asylum then you’d be happy. Keith hadn’t done any videos on it and as far as you knew he didn’t have any plans on exploring the property anytime soon, which was a plus. At least you wouldn’t be labeled as a poser by the people of YouTube for “stealing his idea”. You’d be allowed to explore the asylum freely with no accusations of being unoriginal.

You pulled in at the front of the building, surprised to see a truck already there. When you called the day before you’d been told they weren’t having any tours and that there shouldn’t be any employee vehicles except in the back. So who did this truck belong to? Perhaps one of the employees had accidentally parked there? You shrugged it off and grabbed your backpack. Inside, the asylum looked just how you’d pictured it. Paint chipped brick walls with questionable stains. Ah well, you didn’t go to these places for interior design tips. You decided to get a feel for the place before setting up and actually trying to contact the dead.

You’d only made it to the second floor when you heard someone talking. You crept towards the noise expecting it to be one of three things: a security guard, some random kids in search of trouble, or spirits. What you weren’t expecting to find was your favorite YouTuber in the middle of recording. You paused and he did too upon noticing you, which was a bad idea because, like you said, he was in the middle of recording. “Eep! Sorry, I wasn’t aware there was going to be anybody else here. I’ll just be going.” You moved to turn around when you heard Keith call out for you to come back. You did so, albeit hesitantly. There was your literal role model and you waltzed into his recording like a dunce. “Are you with the staff?” He seemed genuinely confused. “No?” His confusion only increased from your answer. Before he had a chance to ask you any more questions Kosmo bounded over to you, knocking into your legs and making you fall back, he then proceeded to lick your face and nuzzle against you like you were his best friend. “Kosmo, you can’t-,” Keith began. You laughed, petting the larger than life dog. “Hi, cutie. You’re a cuddly pupper aren’t you?” “Kosmo.” Keith whistled and Kosmo went bounding back toward him. “Sorry about that, he doesn’t realize how big he is.” “You got up, brushing the fur off your clothes. “No worries, he seems really sweet.” You knew he was really sweet, you’d seen how adorable he was in Keith’s videos. “So you said you weren’t part of the staff?” “No, I’m here to investigate.” “They told me there wasn’t anybody else here today.” “I was told the same thing. You can imagine my surprise when I saw you.” “Grr-bork!” You two were interrupted once again by Kosmo who was barking in your direction. Why? Just seconds ago he was cuddling you like there was no tomorrow. You held your hands up as the wolfdog approached you slowly, hunched and growling. You gave a quiet yelp as he lunged, tensing for the impact. Except it never came. He had landed and began barking like crazy in the space just past you. A translucent figure stood before you. He grinned, pleased that you could see him. His expression sent chills down your spine, something about him was very off. “Kosmo, what are you doing?” Oh, right, he couldn't see the ghost, like Kosmo and you. Perhaps if you walked away the spirit would follow you and leave Keith and Kosmo alone. Just as you turned to leave you felt something sharp rake across your arm and growl ‘get out’ in your ear. Kosmo’s barking got louder and he ran in circles around you like he was trying to protect you. You lifted your sweater sleeve, relieved that you weren’t bleeding, however there was five red welts. Once the spirit was gone Kosmo sat at your feet whining. “Thank you for trying, sweetie. Don’t feel bad, I’ve dealt with worse.” “What? You understand what Kosmo’s trying to do?” “Um, yeah? I mean, sorta.” “He does that with me sometimes… What was all of that?” “I’m not sure if you’d believe me even if I told you.” “Try me.” “Alright. There was a ghost and Kosmo was trying to keep him away. It didn’t work and the ghost did what most malevolent ghosts do and scratched me in an attempt to get me to leave.” You shrugged, hoping what you said came across as you not being delusional. “Wait, you could see the ghost?” “Maybe…” You’d seen Keith get excited before on his videos, but never to this extent. He practically had stars in his eyes. “So you can actually see ghosts?” “I mean yeah.” “That’s fantastic, would you mind sticking around for my video.” “Wh-what? You want me to be in your video?” “If you are okay with that. I’m Keith by the way.” “I know, I m-mean… Sorry I just, I’ve seen your videos before, that’s actually part of the reason I’m here. I wanted to help the ghosts.” You expected him to get mad, but instead he just smiled. “Great, so you already know how this goes.” “Oh yeah, I guess that’s true.” He waved you over in front of the camera. You hesitantly walked over to him, awaiting his instruction. He picked up shortly before where you had walked in, pausing to declare he had a special guest. “This is…” “(Y/N), pleasure to be here.” You waved awkwardly at the camera. “They’re here on ghost hunting business too.” “Ghost helping actually, I am a medium.”

Keith alternated between filming while he explored and exploring freely without worrying about the camera. You may have liked his on-camera persona (which wasn’t terribly different from his real identity), but his real-self was much more appealing. He seemed less tense, freer to express himself. He was more charming than you’d originally thought, and, truth be told, you had a teensy crush on him and him being genuine only heightened your feelings. Not that you were about to act on them, that would be completely inappropriate. “Do you see any other ghosts?” He interrupted your train of thoughts. “No, but I do think I hear a kid laughing.” You riffled through your bag, grinning when you found what you were looking for: a toddler-sized xylophone. “A xylophone?” “Yup!” You followed the sound of laughter, finding yourselves in a room. On the floor was a child no older than five. It broke your heart that this child, practically still a baby, was stuck here. “Hi, would it be okay if we joined you?” The kid looked up surprised that you could see him. “U-um, okay.” “Thank you. Would you like a new toy?” His eyes lit up. “You have one? I don’t get any new toys. And most people who come here are really mean.” “We aren’t mean, don’t worry. Here.” You placed the xylophone in front of him and he eyed it curiously. “You hit the little stick against the bars and it makes music, try it.” “Okay.” Keith watched as the toy seemingly played on its own. The little boy looked up cheerfully. “This is fun!” You smiled, happy to bring cheer to the ghost child. “What’s your name? Mine is (Y/N), and this is Keith.” Keith waved toward the wall and you had to redirect his hand in the right direction. “I’m James. My mommy and my friends called me Jamie, though.” “Well, Jamie, would you like to try and move on?” He froze. “Everyone who moves on doesn’t come back…” If he could, his eyes would be filling with tears. “Hey, hey, shh shh shh. It’s okay, you don’t have to. I just thought you might want to cause it’s much more peaceful than this place.” Jamie opened his mouth to speak again, but heavy footsteps interrupted him. He shrunk back with even more fear. “I- I have to go.” He vanished. “What’s going on?” Keith tapped your shoulder as he asked the question. Apparently, he heard the footsteps too. “I've got a bad feeling about those footsteps. Jamie said he had to go because of them.” “Jamie?” “The ghost boy.” “Oh.” “Yeah, come on!” You grabbed his hand, running out the door, but just as you made it to the hallway, the source of the footsteps caught up with you. It was a man, different from the one you'd seen earlier. He was dressed in an old-timey doctor apparel and looked sadistically pleased to have spotted you both. “Patients aren't supposed to fraternize.” “We aren’t patients.” “Oh, then the press then?” His expression turned much darker, “We were not notified that anyone from the paper would be here today.” “We aren’t from the paper.” “In that case, you must be dropping off a new patient, let me see him then.” He reached for Keith and you stepped in front of him protectively. “Kosmo, get Keith out of here.” The dog barked his affirmative and began tugging at Keith’s jeans away from the ghost. “Noncompliant guests will be subjected to medical inspection.” He grabbed your jaw so tight you could tell there would be bruising later. “You seem like an adequate patient. What kind of treatment might you need? Perhaps a lobotomy, the chair? So many options…” You shoved him which proved to be futile as your hands just passed right through him. Meanwhile, Kosmo was making very little progress with Keith because he kept trying to get back to help you. “You have no power over me, Doctor, I am not a patient and you have no right to harm me.” He frowned, before grinning, showing bright sinister teeth. “We shall see about that.” Still holding you by your jaw, he pulled you along. Keith finally got past Kosmo and ran to help you, he caught your arm just before you turned the corner. “They’re with me! Get away from them!” Somehow Keith’s pull had loosened you from the creepy doctor's grip. It gave you enough time to run. The three of you ran all the way to the room you found Keith in originally. You’d lost the doctor for now.

Jamie reappeared as Keith and you were recording; while he only showed up as a questionable blur on the camera, you could see him clear as day. Keith recorded for a minute longer before stopping so that you two could speak to him. “Jamie, it’s good to see you again.” “You and your boyfriend got away from Dr. Franklin, that’s good.” “Yeah the do- Wait, he’s not- we aren’t.” “What did Jamie say?” “Oh, he just said that he was happy we got away from the doctor back there.” “Was that all?” “He may ormaynothavecalledyoumyboyfriend…” You mumbled, making it hard for him to catch what you said. “What?” “He thought you were my boyfriend.” “Oh.” Keith blushed and looked away. “Sorry did I say something wrong?” “No, it’s okay, it’s just we are only friends.” Barely that. “Oh, okay.” A childishly mischievous look flashed over Jamie’s face briefly before he wandered over to Kosmo. After that, you couldn’t hear what he said. Kosmo barked, however, so apparently, he heard Jamie. Before you knew it Kosmo was nudging you towards Keith. “Kosmos, what are you, oof.” After an especially hard nudge, he managed to knock you off balance and straight into Keith’s arms, or more accurately onto Keith’s chest. He caught you, scolding Kosmo while doing so. He wasn’t making any move towards letting you go, though- not that you were complaining. You were sure your face was the same color as the blood you’d seen on Doctor Franklin's clothes. Maybe not the most appealing description, but it seemed accurate. “Um, Keith. Can I move?” “Hmm? Oh, right! Sorry.” He let you go, wringing his hands awkwardly once you'd taken a step back. Were the ghost and the dog trying to play matchmaker? Was it working?

The daylight was fading quickly and the spirit activity was quickly becoming overwhelming. You'd had to dodge Dr. Franklin a handful of times and Jamie had since gotten other children ghost on board the S.S. Make Keith and You Fall in Love. Between the romance fueled shenanigans you’d managed to work information out of the ghosts, after all, you had promised yourself you'd help them pass on. From what you’d gathered, Jamie was ready to move on but was too afraid of the unknown to pass on alone. Another kid, the ghost of a young girl who was tied to this plane of existence because of her grisly murder offered to move on with him if she could. All you had to do was tell the world who killed her. She told you the name and you promised to pass it on and find proof for her. That was good enough for her. All you had to do now was convince Jamie. “Jamie, can I talk to you for a second?” “Sure.” “I know you didn’t sound crazy about the idea at first, but Lilly offered to cross over with you so you weren’t alone.” “I don’t want to go! It’s scary.” “I know, but don’t you want to see your mommy again?” “Mommy will be there?” “Of course, sweetie, and I’m sure she’d be so happy to see you again. And then you wouldn't have to worry about Dr. Franklin anymore either.” “I wanna see her again, but what about you and Keith?” “What about me and Keith?” “Who will make sure you two end up happy too?” “I knew you were the one doing this.” “You both are nice, I wanna help.” “I'll tell you what, if you agree to cross over, I’ll ask Keith if he wants to go get coffee with me.” Jamie crinkled his nose, “Why coffee? That’s icky. And also that’s not what I mean.” You got down on his level and whispered. “Go get coffee is like adult code word for go on a date.” “Whoa, adults use code words? Like spies?” You laughed, “Yeah, like spies.” “OK, but you have to ask him first.”

“Keith, can I ask you something?” He was tinkering with his camera which seemed to have stopped working. “Yeah, what is it?” You steeled your nerves as best you could which wasn’t very much. “Would you like to go get coffee with me, after this I mean.” His eyebrows raised in surprise. Had you been too bold? “That sounds nice, actually.” Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Jamie raise his thumb in approval and you laughed inwardly. Who knew a ghost boy would make such a good wingman? As promised, Jamie and Lilly starting to pass on, hand in hand. As they did, they got fainter and fainter, and the energy they gave off became less and less obvious until- nothing. You smiled softly. May they rest peacefully. “Are you ready?” “As I’ll ever be.” “You’re the one that asked me out-” “I was making a joke, of course, I’m ready.” You and Keith, much like Jamie and Lilly, also left the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum hand in hand.


	3. Rather Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old promise from their childhood brings back old feelings. When both Keith and the reader fail to communicate, though, will the promises from the past be kept?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rather Be by Clean Bandit is the musical accompaniment for this fic. What do you guys think, should I add on a song for all fics/fic requests?

“Keef!” 

The young boy dropped his toys and turned around to see his best friend. Although he’d never admit it, he loved the way they mispronounced his name, it was… cute. “(Y/n)! What are you doing here?” 

“I came to make a deal.” You held out a paper to him, an adorably serious look on your face. 

“A deal?” He took the paper, looking over the crayon written words. The writing was messy and mistake-ridden, but it didn’t matter to Keith, what mattered was that it was a proposal to Keith, a marriage proposal. 

“You are my bestest friend ever. So, I’ve decided that if I’m not already married in twenty years, which is like a million years away anyway, then we should get married.” 

Keith’s surprise turned into a smile which turned into a laugh. “(Y/N), you’re only 7-” 

“And a half! You're only 4 months older anyway, I’m basically 8 like you!” 

“Okay, you’re 7 and a half, but shouldn’t you wait until you're older to get married.” 

“I am, didn’t you read it? It says 20 years away,” you pointed at a large blue 20, “see? Right there.” You huffed crossing your arms and looking down, your serious face crumbling as you toed at the dirt. 

“Okay.” Keith figured if he did want to marry someone one day it should be you. 

“Okay?” You looked up, failing to mask your surprise. 

“Yup. Oh, I think we need to sign this, right?” 

“Oh, right!’ You fished two crayons out of your pocket, handing him the red one, and keeping your favorite colored one for yourself. After setting the paper on the sandbox’s lining you both signed, sealing a contract that would be forgotten for a long time. 19 years to be exact. 

\- 

You were going through some old things of yours (your parents had asked you to come home to see what you wanted to keep and what you wanted to toss as they needed your old room cleared since they were planning on moving). As you were in the process of going through your childhood stuff, you stumbled across your old treasure chest filled with drawings, toys, and crumpled at the very bottom-- a wedding certificate. You laughed as you pulled it out, flattening it as best as you could. Keith absolutely had to see this. After tugging out your phone you sent him a quick message to hurry over. 

Keith got there not even twenty minutes later looking for you somewhat panicked. After an apology and a brief explanation, he calmed down. Actually, he was pretty amused. “I can’t believe you told me I was going to marry you.” 

“Hey! You’re the one that agreed.” The both of you were laughing as Keith looked over the paper. 

“According to this, we’re supposed to get married in a couple weeks.” Keith grinned at you, blushing slightly from what you assumed was second-hand embarrassment from your younger selves. 

“Oh gosh, so it does.” Your giggle fit picked up again, as you continued to speak through it. “Guess we have to get married. A contract is a contract, as they say.” 

“I’ve never heard that saying, I’m not entirely convinced you didn’t just make that up.” 

You held your hand to your chest, barely containing your grin. “Are you, Keith Kogane, saying I’m making things up?” 

“Oh absolutely.” He smiled, not even trying to hide his smile. 

You gasped dramatically. “How rude.” The paper in your hand caught your attention once more. “Why did you sign it? Way back then, I mean.” 

“Why?” Keith took the paper from you, smoothing out some of the worst folds and eyeing it fondly. “How could I not? You came up to me that day and I vaguely remember feeling intimidated-“ 

“What?! By me?! Your friend?!” 

“Well, sure. You came up to me holding this sheet of stark white printer paper- which has seen better days now, but back then it looked official-“ 

“Kind of what I was going for,” you laughed. 

“Right. So any way you come marching up with an official-looking piece of paper and then basically declare that you were going to marry me. And I was intimidated. I mean there was this person I liked-“ Keith fumbled over his words, speaking more quickly after his accidental confession, “and they were asking me to marry them. It was a time of very strong intimidation.” He laughed awkwardly, hoping you hadn’t caught his blunder. “Anyway what are you going to do with this?” 

“Wait! You liked me?!” 

“I- um- yeah…” He fiddled with the edge of the paper before handing it back to you, noticeably uncomfortable. 

“Wow.” The word came out as more of a sound than an actual statement. “I’m just- I can’t believe it. I guess since we signed this I’ll have to keep it. Just, y'know, in case I don’t fall madly in love with some rando within the next three weeks.” You spoke clearly, although your voice did have a slightly teasing tone. It wasn’t mean, though, far from it, if anything it sounded kind of flirty. You hoped Keith understood you were being genuine. 

He flushed. “Yeah, maybe… Hey, I’ve got to head out, Shiro’s having this thing and he asked me to go. I’ll see you later?” 

“Sounds good. Maybe Sal’s tonight?” 

“Sure.” Keith grabbed his bag and basically bounded out of the room, face aflame. 

You felt a little guilty about flustering him so much, but really you were feeling quite overwhelmed yourself. Keith and you’d been friends since basically the day you were born and yeah, you’d had a crush on him, and yeah, maybe you still did. But you couldn’t just come out with it. Besides, there was no way he liked you still anyway. You’d gotten a rise out of him for your own amusement (and maybe to see if he still had feelings for you), but you were certain it was just his embarrassment at the situation that made him so flustered. You were a little crushed, to be honest. To be completely truthful you wanted to do nothing more than bottle your feelings up and binge video games all night to forget the awkwardness you’d just set in place, but no, you had already asked Keith to meet you at Sal’s. 

\- 

By the time evening rolled around and it was time to head to Sal’s you had worked yourself into a pit of guilt and regret. Keith wasn’t there when you got there. So you took up residence in the lone booth at the back where the two of you usually sat. Ten minutes had passed before you saw your friends Shiro and Matt walk in. Keith still wasn’t here so you waved them over. They seemed happy enough to see you, you were happy to see them too, even if you had been hoping they had Keith with them. They didn’t. 

“(N/n), hey! Is Keith with you?” Shiro grinned, leaning down to side hug you before sliding in opposite you. Matt slid in next to you pulling you into a hug that quickly became a noogie. 

“Gah! Matt what the hell, what are you five?” You shoved away from him, giving him the bird as you turned back to Shiro. “No, he was supposed to meet me here like half an hour ago, I thought maybe he was with you.” 

“I haven’t seen him since this afternoon.” 

“Shit. Did he seriously stand me up?” 

“Oh? Did you two finally confess your undying love for each other? And here I thought we had something, (N/n).” Matt lounged against you and you grumbled despite smiling at the dramatic man. 

“First of all shut your mouth. Second of all, you know you’re the only one for me.” Shiro barked with laughter and Matt nuzzled in closer to you and you rolled your eyes playfully at the act. “Jesus, you’re being worse than usual, are you drunk?” 

“He’s got a buzz.” 

“Ah. That makes sense then. Matt, my darling lover, I need you to get your bony ass elbow out from my rib cage.” He laughed as he sat back up. 

Though he had been smiling at the antics of his friends only moments prior, Shiro was quick to take up the serious role. “Wait, so you haven’t seen Keith since this morning.” You nodded. “Did something happen between the two of you?” 

You flushed, this was the conversation you were hoping wasn’t going to happen. Still, you couldn’t lie to Shiro, the man was pretty much a human lie detector to his friends. “Kind of… I found this dumb thing from when we were kids this morning and I think it upset him.” 

Shiro cocked his head to the side. “But Keith loves looking through things from your guy’s childhood.” 

“Well, I think maybe it was more so what I said about it. I may have been a bit out of line with my joking.” 

“What’d you say?” Math looked at you, eyes widened. 

You buried your head in your hands to hide your face. “I may have implied we should get married.” Both Matt and Shiro broke into a fit of laughter at your expense and you groaned. “Guys shut up! Look I didn’t know what else to do, he told me he used to have feelings for me and I guess I was just feeling bold. I’ve been beating myself up for it all day.” 

Shiro caught his breath, quietening his chuckles momentarily. “He told you that? And I assume it’s safe to say that you're referring to the fake proposal back in- oh gosh, I want to say first, maybe kindergarten?” 

“Second-grade, and yeah. I mean, what would you do? You know how I feel about Keith and it was like he was saying the very thing I wanted to hear for basically all of my life and then he bails the second I reciprocate. The only thing I can think is that I fucked up, which honestly let's be real, is probably the case. And now he’s uncomfortable around me, and I don’t know what to do.” 

Shiro blinked, face going slack. “Oh, wow. Okay. I can’t believe he actually told you. I don’t think you scared him off, (N/n), I think maybe he wasn’t expecting you to say anything like that and he didn’t know how to handle it. I’m sure if you give him time he’ll work it out himself. Until then you need to stop beating yourself up over it.” 

“Easier said than done.” You crossed your arms, slumping in your seat. 

“I know, but you’re going to have to trust me on this one.” 

\- 

Keith had never shown up to Sal’s and honestly now that a few days had passed with him one wording you, Shiro's advice was getting harder and harder to follow. You were in your apartment, putting everything from your old room away when you stumbled across the object that caused this whole situation. You crumpled it, tossing it aside. “As if I needed the reminder.” Your birthday was rapidly approaching, with only little over a week left until the day. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but it only served as a reminder that Keith was avoiding you. You glared at the piece of paper laying crumpled pathetically at the floor. A sigh escaped you and you sunk to the floor, grabbing it again. It hurt sure, but you felt bad just tossing it aside like that. Why couldn’t life be as easy as you thought it would be all those years ago? You’d always loved Keith, that much should have been obvious from your proposal. But the idea that your feelings had been reciprocated and that they may not be anymore crushed you; even more than that, the idea that you’d ruined your friendship with Keith completely wrecked you. Even if you couldn’t have him as your significant other, you would always want to be friends; he was your other half. 

Your phone rang and you jumped, startled by the sudden noise. The caller ID said it was Matt. Decline. You just couldn’t deal with his silliness right now. The phone rang again and you were irked to see Matt’s face pop up again. Decline. You pressed down on the screen as if the more aggressive action would keep him from calling again. A moment later a message popped up. It was from Matt. 

_Answer my call D:_

You rolled your eyes. A second later the phone started buzzing again. You slid the answer button, annoyance written in your words as you clipped out a curt “What?”. 

“About time, I was wondering if I’d have to come to your house to tell you.” 

“Tell me what?!” 

“Now, now. Is that any way to talk to someone with good news?” His voice was a singsong that only proved to grate on your nerves further. 

“You know what, I don’t care.” 

His laughter faded. “Okay, okay, sorry. Yeesh, this whole thing has really gotten to you, hasn’t it?” He was quick to take on a more empathetic tone, it was much appreciated on your end. 

“I’m sorry, I’m being kind of an ass, aren't I? But, yeah, it has. Anyway, what was your news?” 

“Shiro has a surprise for you!” 

“Wait, what?” 

“Can you meet us at his place?” 

“Yeah-- wait, Matt, what’s the surprise?” 

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now would it?” You tried to speak again, but the line went dead. He’d hung up. 

You wanted to ignore the phone call, but you know if you did the curiosity would linger much longer than you’d like. So instead, you huffily slipped on your jacket and shoes and headed out to Shiro’s place. 

For having a surprise for you, Shiro wasn’t very quick to answer his door. When he finally did open the door he was red in the face and looked like he had just been running laps. You guffawed. “Are you good?” Too breathless to answer, he just nodded, stepping aside to let you in. “What were you doing-- the hell is this?” 

“Oh that, that’s nothing. You look great, but hey have you thought about going out, like with us?” You blinked slowly at Matt who was trying to pull your attention from reusable grocery bags that were spilling out streamers and other various decorations. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“We’re going to go party and you’re coming with us. No more moping. But maybe you might want to get a little more dressed up, that’s on me, I should have told you before. I was just worried you wouldn’t show up.” 

"I wouldn’t have. Matt, I don’t want to go out partying. Besides you’re a little early, my birthday isn’t for-” 

“We know! But you needed a pick me up, look it won’t be one of those shitty bars, okay. Somewhere more laid back.” 

You rolled your eyes again. “What's wrong with what I have on now then?” 

“Pwetty pwease. Look, we even bought you a gift!” 

Matt pulled out a nicely wrapped gift box, Shiro must have wrapped it. 

“Go on, open it.” 

So you did, pulling the ribbon and tearing the paper off. Inside the box was an outfit, and despite your earlier protests, you smiled. It was a number you’d been eyeing for a while now. “Thank you both. Fine. We can go party, but just for a little while. Let me go get ready first, yeah?” 

“Sounds good.” 

\- 

The place they ended up taking you was Oriande, a place that landed somewhere between a club and a bar. It was classier than most of the bars on the road, but it also still had a dance floor giving it a more casual atmosphere as opposed to the high-class lounges up the road. It was still early in the evening, the sun just barely touching the horizon when you went in. Pastel neon lights engulfed you, the soft yet bright pinks blues and purples inviting you deeper into the establishment. Honestly, you were surprised you hadn’t been here before, it was just your style. Shiro ushered you over to a table nearer the back that looked like it had been decorated for an event. Oh, dang, were you here for someone else's party? But you didn’t even bring anything- 

A cheery lady approached you. “You must be one of our bachelorxs!” She clapped a hand on you back and before you could get a word in edgewise she continued. “Now, your hubby-to-be isn't here yet, but that doesn’t mean the fun can't begin right?” She laughed friendly, before continuing, barely a breath in between her last sentence. “So," she stretched out the 'o' so that it sounded more like 'ooh', "we’ve set up a nice little bar section for your party, and of course since it's your party there's an open bar. Your planners were very thorough! If you need anything just holler!” And like that she had run off to attend other matters. 

You rounded on your friends who were looking particularly guilty. “What the hell did you do!?” 

“Look before you say anything-” 

“No. I-” You pinched the bridge of your nose. “I get that you wanted the discount or special treatment or whatever, but did you really have to rope me in?” 

“Well actually-” 

“Shiro? Why’d you ask me to meet you here? Isn’t it kind of loud--...” There was Keith looking a little worse for the wear than when you’d last seen him, but he had still cleaned up well. Your attention immediately left Shiro. 

“Keith?” His face paled as you approached him, eyes darting away as if searching from an exit; your heart clenched painfully. When he realized he couldn't so easily dart away he begrudgingly looked up at you, face a soft pink, although it might have just been the lighting-- it was hard to tell. 

“(Y/n)... Hey…” 

“It’s nice to see you again.” Even though you don’t want to see me, you thought bitterly. “Did Shiro invite you? It looks like it’s somebody’s party.” This caught him off guard. 

“I... it is?” 

You shrugged. “I’m assuming, although I think Shiro,” You yanked the fleeing man over, grip iron clad on his arm, Matt had already made his getaway, “and Matthew are running a bit of a con, but there are free drinks so...” 

“Oh, my gosh, you two are so cu~ute! You must be our bachelor, I'm sure your fiance must have filled you in, so if you need anything let me know. I’ll let the bartender know that you’re both here.” 

You watched in mortification as the chipper woman from before clapped a hand on Keith’s shoulder, effectively labeling him as your fiance. His face was burning with a blush, you were certain it wasn't the lighting this time. “No- that’s not--” 

“Berry! We got an issue!” Someone from behind the bar shouted at who you assumed was the chipper lady. She frowned. “Shoot. Sorry, I gotta go handle this, enjoy your party!” Your anger from before you saw Keith had been reignited with a vengeance. 

“Okay, so maybe I should explain…” Shiro looked beyond nervous. 

“You think?!” 

“It was Matt’s idea. Well, okay so originally we thought maybe we could pretend to be getting engaged for a couple of free drinks but then you two… well, you’ve both been a mess and refused to confront each other… So Matt came up with this idea, which in hindsight is kind of a shitty one, but hey now you can talk and there's plenty of pre-paid liquid courage to help you.” 

“Shiro!” 

“I’m sorry that we put you in this situation, but I’m not sorry I tricked you both into coming. Who knows how long you two would’ve gone on avoiding each other? And I can't deal with you both being upset over the same thing just because you don't want to confront each other. You both have been beating yourselves up, and waiting around for the situation to just magically right itself. So if it takes alcohol to get you to talk, then so be it." Shiro had taken on that authoritative aura of his and you huffed. You hated it when he was right, and he usually was. 

"Fine." Your voice sounded cold even to your ears. You hadn’t meant for it to and you couldn't stand the thought of seeing if Keith reacted to it. Honestly, you weren't sure if it would hurt more if he did or didn't. Instead of looking you stubbornly grabbed his hand and dragged him to somewhere you could talk without shouting. You ended up finding yourselves alone in the hallway to the restroom, the music was still blaring but it was far enough away that you could actually talk. You finally let go of Keith’s hand, turning around to face him. It was almost too much, after so many days of having been rejected by him. Your nerves gripped you with a renewed sense of terror. You couldn’t talk, instead, you felt your throat tighten. Fuck. You were gonna cry. You hadn’t dragged him all the way over here just to cry in front of him. A strained whimper left your lips when you made to speak and you quickly snapped your mouth shut, turning away in embarrassment. Why now, of all times did your emotions have to be getting the better of you. 

A shaky hand wiped your tears away. Your eyes shot to meet Keith’s. He looked unsure of himself like he would dart away at any second and yet, he still stood before you, gently brushing away the tears that refused to stop flowing. “H-hey, (N/n), hey… No, no, fuck. Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t-- I didn’t mean to make you cry.” That only made you cry harder and soon enough Keith had awkwardly pulled you into his arms. It was no unknown fact that physical affection was one of the quickest ways to comfort you and as your childhood best friend, Keith knew this better than anyone. “I,” He cleared his throat, “I know I fucked up. I never wanted to hurt you. I’d rather die.” He paused and for a moment you thought that he was done talking and tried to focus on recomposing yourself. You never left his arms though, afraid that stepping away would mean you’d never get to be this close to him again. “But I- I didn’t know what to do… I was scared. My feelings for you were laid out and I couldn’t be sure what you were thinking.” Something wet hit the top of your head-- Keith was crying too? “So, I did what I do best and I ran away. I shouldn’t have, but… What else was I supposed to do?” His voice wavered, his question coming out near breathless and timorous. 

“I don’t understand? Why were you scared? I don’t care if you used to have a crush on me as a kid! I’m sorry if I scared you off with that stupid comment, I just… I don’t know. I thought maybe…” You had pushed back, this wasn’t a conversation you could very well have with your face smooshed into Keith’s chest. Regret clenched around your heart like a chain, but you’d already froze before. You forced yourself to meet his eyes, the beautiful violet-grey causing a short-lived wave of calm to wash over you. They were familiar, and yet the tears falling from them were not. Keith rarely cried. Acting on instinct alone, your hands made to wipe his tears away. He let you, watching you with a piercing gaze that was trying to dissect your every movement, find answers in the space between your words and your actions. He couldn’t find any hidden meanings, but he couldn't find any answers either. 

“Comment?” 

“What?” Your voice croaked out, sounding just as confused as he had. 

“You said stupid comment? What comment?” Was he serious? Hadn’t your flirting been what caused this all to spiral? 

“When I was flirting with you! Isn’t that what ran you off? I mean I didn’t actually mean we had to get married, just like a date or- or whatever…” 

“Wait you were flirting with me?!” You felt like screaming, how had you managed to get yourself into this predicament of giving Keith your feelings on a platter thrice in your life now? Regardless of whether he knew or not, you felt like vomiting from the nerves. 

“I thought it was obvious?” You laughed, but it came out strange and garbled, “I mean, shit Keith, I only propositioned you for marriage twice now.” The idea was both incredibly embarrassing and way too funny. 

He seemed to feel similarly as a snort left him, quickly preceded by a fit of laughter that you too couldn't help but join in on. The both of you sounded delirious, and honestly, you kind of were. Tears flowed freely as you laughed, making you feel as though you may have lost it. When the laughter finally died down you were left shaky and almost numb. But the weight was no longer on your shoulders so that was something. “In your defense,” Keith’s hands had come to wipe away your tears again, completely dismissing his own, “I’ve technically never refused your propositions either.” 

Your hand met his on your cheek, stopping the motions but also stopping him from leaving. “I mean, you did run away the second time…” 

“But I never said no.” 

“Are you saying you want to marry me?” Your brow arched, eyes searching his for a sign that he was joking. Surely, he wasn’t actually saying he wanted to marry you. 

His eyes widened and he glanced to the side bashfully. “Maybe not a week from now… Honestly, though, I don’t think I could ever even imagine myself spending the rest of my life with anyone else? Like you’ve been my constant since basically day one and I’ve… I’ve had feelings for you for almost as long.” You could feel the tremble of his hands, letting your grip tighten slightly afraid he might run again if you didn’t. Your other hand moved to press his ridiculous fringe out of his eyes. 

“Oh, Keith.” You couldn’t help the soft smile that found its way to your lips. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” 

He bit his lip. “That depends on what you think I’m saying?” 

“Keith… Please don’t make me wait any longer to hear it.” 

He laughed, although you could still feel the slight tremble in his hand. “(Y/n) (L/n), I have wanted to be with you since we were in second grade, maybe longer, and that’s never changed. If you’ll have me, I’d love nothing more than to be with you.” He paused a beat. “Oh, but, um, I do think marriage would be rushing it... “ 

You giggled, though he sounded monotone, you knew he was joking. “I’ve waited this long, I think I can wait a while longer if that’s what it takes.” The two of you shared a laugh and before you knew it, Keith had gently tugged you back into his arms. With your face pressed firmly into his chest, you could feel the erratic beating of his heart. “But really, Keith. I’ve had feelings for you for as long as I can remember. I’m glad we finally get to be here like this.” 

“Speaking of, do you want to dip out and go somewhere-” 

“Less loud?” 

“Yeah.” 

“That would be lovely.” With your hand in his, Keith led you through the crowds, neither of you bothering much to say goodbye to the now tipsy Matt and supervising Shiro, instead of finding your way outside into the crisp evening air. It felt like you could breathe finally, although you suspect part of it was because you no longer felt the crushing pressure on your chest of hiding your feelings for Keith. In fact, you realized with delight, you could now… “Hey, Keith?” You stopped on the sidewalk, with him by your side, eyeing you curiously. “Can I try something?” 

“Okay?” 

Letting the last of your nerves roll off of you, you took your moment of boldness and leaned up to press a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth. Keith startled, after a moment his hand left yours, instead, finding purchase on your waist to tug you closer. “(Y/n), can I try something?” His voice was barely audible, but it still sent shivers through your spine. 

“Okay.” 

He smiled softly before moving to capture your lips with his own. The kiss was tender and filled with love. His inexperience showed, but it was endearing and you found yourself leaning in to kiss him again after he pulled back. You were left breathless under the lamplight, grinning just as brightly as that day on the playground when Keith first agreed to be yours. And now that he’d agreed once again, well you couldn’t be any happier. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wb an imagine with my boy keef and a childhood best friend crush,, bonus for blushy flustered keef lmao


End file.
